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Rocky Top Tennessee 2009

It has been a year of transition for the Volunteers. Phillip Fulmer is out, and a whole new system, with Lane Kiffin at the helm, is being put in place. Change is tough, especially at a program with a history as rich as Tennessee's, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism.

Rocky Top Tennessee 2009, edited by Joel of Rocky Top Talk, delves into all the reasons for fans to be optimistic, from the recruiting juggernaut Kiffin is building, to the new schemes he's implementing. Of course, no Vols publication would be complete without a full tribute to Fulmer and the program's history. With 128 pages dedicated to the Vols, it's all covered in Rocky Top Tennessee 2009.

Shipping from Maple Street Press July 6, reserve your copy today!

On newsstands July 21.

The Ballad of Tony Robinson

by Pride of the Southland on Jul 2, 2009 9:50 PM EDT Comment 6 comments

Last May, Inmate 944466 of the Florida Department of Corrections walked out of a Florida penitentiary a free man once again after serving a 1 year and three month sentence. This is the not the first time he has felt this feeling of new found freedom, for Inmate 944466 has lead a tumultuous life that squandered what could have turned out to be one of the most promising careers in NFL history. Such is the story of Tony Robinson.

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6 comments | 1 recs |

A 4-Star Place Kicker?!? Welcome to UT, Palardy!

by hooper on Jul 2, 2009 7:44 PM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 21 comments

Normally, I'd put news of a new recruit on the sidebar, but a 4-star kicker is something you don't see every year. Mike Palardy of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida just gave his nod to the Vols as his home for 2010.

There's not a whole lot to say other than wow, but special note must be made of Eddie Gran. Gran is the coach who recruits Florida and is the special teams coach (in addition to running backs). I've been really, really impressed with Gran as a person off the field; his on-the-job performance is leaving no doubt as to how special he can be for the Vols.

Here's some terrific place-kicker eye candy for your enjoyment. Just imagine this guy in one of those sweet new uniforms you're dreaming up for the RTT Create Your Own UT Uniform Contest.

Competin' for Kickers!

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RTT's Create Your Own UT Uniform Contest

by wshelton2 on Jul 2, 2009 12:30 PM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 13 comments

Alternate Tennessee road uniforms created using EA Sports free TeamBuilder feature...okay, so imagine the stripes on the jersey and the pants line up...

View full size photo uploaded June 30, 2009

Sparked by the conversation and debate over black Tennessee adidas jerseys being found in retail stores, along with quotes from Al Wilson on the same subject, we proudly bring you Rocky Top Talk's Create Your Own UT Uniform Contest.

Thanks to the magic of EA Sports' free TeamBuilder feature for NCAA Football 10 (in stores in just 12 days), you no longer have to be an artist or a graphic designer to take a shot at creating an alternate uniform for the Vols. You can create a new look for UT's uniforms using their site in as little as 10 minutes...or spend an entire afternoon wandering through the thousands of different combinations.

So for the next week, we'll be taking submissions from the TeamBuilder software for your best shot at a new-look Tennessee uniform. Update the home and/or away unis, change the helmet, add some gray or black, whatever you think looks best. After a week's worth of submissions, we'll poll you the reader on the best ones we receive. We can't promise that Mike Hamilton or Lane Kiffin will be watching...but perhaps we'll find something here that we can all agree would be a nice improvement on the traditional Vol look...

The winner will receive their choice of a free copy of Rocky Top Tennessee 2009, or a free copy of Bruce Feldman's Meat Market, courtesy of Hooper's personal archives. Second place receives the other. So we're not just playing for pride boys and girls.

How to use TeamBuilder:

Check out the free TeamBuilder site here
If you don't have an account with EA Sports, you'll need to register for a free one - no confirmation emails, just a quick registration page
Once you've registered and logged in, click CREATE A SCHOOL
From here, you can be as in-depth as you'd like. Created teams can be saved and then downloaded once the game is released, and you can play with seven other features aside from uniforms. If you just want to get to the Tennessee uniform creation, you'll want to change the school colors to orange (Tennessee's official color is found in the third row), white, and whatever you choose for the third option (black, gray, or O/W again, etc.)
Next, click on the LOGO tab to enable access to the Power T. At the bottom of the screen, select "Choose Existing" and then select Tennessee.
Now you're ready to go. Click on the UNIFORM tab at the top of the screen to pull up the main uniforms. From here, you can go into the helmet, jersey, pants and shoes menus individually and edit to your heart's desire until you have a completed uniform for submission.

How to post entries at RockyTopTalk:

Get a screencap of your completed uniform (like the one at the top of this post). The easiest way I know to do this is to use the PrntScrn key, and then open a program like MS Paint and paste the screen into it, then crop it down to size and save. (Those more comptuer savvy than I, feel free to post other ways to do this)
Once you've got the image saved, create a FanPost on RockyTopTalk that includes your image in it.
The contest will run from Thursday, July 2-Thursday, July 9. We'll post a poll on Friday morning, July 10 with the best entries (or all of them, depending on how many we get) and allow the community to vote on a winner over the weekend.

If you have any questions on how to use any of this, just post them in the comments and we'll be sure to help you out.

Note: Time updated to bump to the top. No changes made since initial submission. --hooper

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Around the SB Nation: how to buy a numbered college football jersey

by Joel on Jul 2, 2009 12:00 PM EDT in Rocky Top Talking Points Comment 30 comments

The day's best links from around the SB Nation network:

Before you buy a numbered-jersey, be sure to check out Bucky's 5th Quarter's helpful guidance on how to make sure you're not stuck with a loser. I'm certain that a Tennessee No. 14 is safe, but does anyone care to do a FanPost applying these rules to Tennessee to see what we're safe buying this season?
Hammer and Rails previews Purdue's game against Notre Dame and concludes that it's a "good chance for us to make a little noise."
Gobbler Country has the ACC storylines that are not getting enough play this preseason.
Blogger So Dear interviews Wake Forest guard L.D. Williams.
We Will Always Have Tempe previews Ohio State's game against Wisconsin.

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Talking Points: Jim Bob Cooter arrested for aggravated, nekkid burglary

by Joel on Jul 2, 2009 7:52 AM EDT in Rocky Top Talking Points Comment 2 comments

Tennessee football

Good night, Jim Bob. Former backup quarterback Jim Bob Cooter was recently arrested and charged with aggravated burglary (wrongful entry of a "habitation" with the intent to commit a felony, theft, or assault) after entering through some poor girl's window, stripping to his skivvies, and climbing into her bed. Moving on.
Got money? Want tickets? Support women's studies. Tennessee has instituted a new donation policy that requires any donors wanting football tickets to contribute to the new Tennessee Fund, which the athletic department will oversee. You can give a gift to academics, but you can't designate that gift for any particular academic programs. You can give a gift to a specific academic program, but then you won't be eligible for season tickets. So gone are the days of graduates of the medical, law, or engineering schools being rewarded with season tickets for supporting the schools from which they graduated.
Strength and quickness. GVX has a feature on Tennessee's new strength and conditioning coach Aaron Ausmus, who became a full-time assistant at USC in 2002 and Ole Miss's head strength coach in 2005.

Tennessee basketball

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The University of Tennessee is changing its rules on donations that result in the donor being eligible for athletic tickets, and it could shake up the way people donate to UT.

Donations made to specific academic departments will no longer make the donor eligible to purchase season tickets; all donations for tickets will have to go into a fund under athletic department control.

WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | UT changes ticket policy for donors
Hmm. Anyone care to venture a guess at the impact of this change? (HT: raynoch46)

2 days ago Joel comment 3 comments 0 recs

Mr SEC - SEC Basketball Coaching Salaries

So, we know Calipari, Donovan and Pearl are the three highest paid coaches in the SEC. But can you guess the rest of the pecking order? Because one of the programs I would've put in the top five comes in at #11...an interesting look from Mr. SEC.

2 days ago wshelton2 comment 2 comments 0 recs